Sergio Perez proves to be costlier than Max Verstappen: Red Bull have spent over $1 Million for his car repairs in 2023 till now
Sergio Perez finally surpassed Max Verstappen, but it not the list where he would have hoped to come in the top 3.
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It is no news that Max Verstappen, after having won two back-to-back F1 World Championships in the last two seasons, is now the highest-paid racer on the current grid. With a paycheck amounting to $55 million dollars from his team Red Bull, the Dutchman has proven to be a massively successful investment as he has already earned laurels for the Milton-Keynes squad and is well on his way towards a Formula One title hat-trick now. But recent statistics have revealed that, on more practical terms, Sergio Perez has been comparatively costlier for his team than his World Championship-winning teammate has.
It first came on Reddit and then took the Formula One world by surprise. Sergio Perez, the racer whom everyone thinks to be Red Bull’s ‘second choice’, has caused his team to spend over a million dollars for car repairs in the first seven Grands Prix of this season. This calculation was done based on the amount of money each team has spent on repairing the cars in the current 2023 F1 season till now. The driver whose car has caused his team to invest the most in repairs is Pierre Gasly of Alpine, followed by Alex Albon of Williams, and Sergio Perez has taken the third spot.
At the beginning of this year’s campaign, Alpine brought in Gasly to fit into Fernando Alonso’s role after the Spaniard left for Aston Martin. As of now, Pierre Gasly’s car has caused Alpine to shell out $1.38 million–and a major part of it went to fixing the Frenchman’s car after his Miami clash with teammate Esteban Ocon. Alex Albon has led Williams to spend $1.2 million on repairs. And as for Sergio Perez, the Mexican has made sure that $1.08 million out of the $.1.17 million that Red Bull have spent on car repairs till now goes to his RB-19 only.
There is a huge difference between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in terms of vulnerability to accidents
Formula 1 is a dangerous sport and accidents are not uncommon, but a skilled driver knows the tracks like the back of his hands and knows how to maneuver his car to avoid crashes. Thus, Max Verstappen, who has rarely gotten into any racetrack troubles till now in 2023 has kept his RB-19 in brilliant shape. His car has required only 0.09 million in repair funds. Whereas his much more experienced teammate Sergio Perez has seen his fair share of trackside accidents–the most notable being his Monaco Quali crash.
While Alpine, Williams and Red Bull have all bled money because of repairing the cars after a crash, the two greams with the lowest amounts going into repairs are Mercedes and Alfa Romeo. While the Silver Arrows’ performance has not been too promising if not for their double podium at the most recent Spanish GP, they have been consistent in their attempts and have required only $525,000 for repairs and Alfa Romeo needed only $225,000.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)